2890: Speed Training for Athletes | How to Sprint Faster Without Getting Hurt w/ Brian Kula
June 28, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readBrian Kula, a veteran athletic trainer who has worked with NFL stars like Christian McCaffrey, Saquon Barkley, and AJ Brown, joined the Mind Pump podcast to break down how to run faster without getting hurt. The conversation quickly zeroed in on a paradox: humans are built to run, yet running has one of the highest injury rates of any exercise. Kula’s answer is that most people—including elite athletes—treat running as an activity rather than a skill, and that mistake is the root of most injuries.
The Three-Headed Monster: Neural, Mechanical, and Structural
Kula frames athletic development—and running specifically—as a "three-headed monster" that must be addressed simultaneously. The structural component is about tissue tolerance: tendons, ligaments, and joints need to be gradually conditioned to handle the loads of running. Most people get hurt because they jump into a volume their body isn't ready for. The mechanical component involves poor movement patterns—overreaching, plantar flexing before ground contact, or letting the foot swing out the back—that create excessive force up the kinetic chain. The neural component is the brain's role as the operating system; at high speeds, the nervous system can fail to coordinate properly, and that's when muscles pull.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (03:32) **Why Running Injures So Many People** - Brian Kula explains that running injuries are primarily a volume problem, not just a biomechanical one.
- 2 (05:16) **The "Three-Headed Monster" of Running Mechanics** - Brian breaks down the neural, mechanical, and structural components of running.
- 3 (07:20) **The "Bounce Fire" System Explained** - Brian introduces his signature progressive running mechanics system.
- 4 (10:43) **Common Running Dysfunctions & Cues** - Brian identifies the most frequent mechanical errors and their consequences.
- 5 (13:49) **Hamstring Injuries: The Neural Problem** - Why hamstrings pull and how to truly bulletproof them.
- 6 (16:15) **A Safe Progression to Sprinting** - Brian outlines how to build up to sprinting without injury.
- 7 (20:30) **Recovery: The Neural Paradigm** - How Brian manages rest and recovery for high-level athletes.
+ Full timestamped outline available in the app
Show Notes
In this episode the guys sit down with elite speed and performance coach Brian Kula of Kula Sports Performance, the man who has trained Christian McCaffrey since he was 13 years old, Saquon Barkley, AJ Brown, and dozens of other professional and Olympic athletes. Brian breaks down his Bounce Fire system for building safe running mechanics from the ground up, why strong athletes like Sal who never sprint are actually at higher injury risk than deconditioned ones, how the nervous system is the real reason hamstrings pull, why cold plunges can shut down the nervous system for up to 24 hours before a game, the best strength training exercises for speed including trap bar deadlifts and overcoming isometrics, how he uses force plates and grip strength to gauge recovery, the role genetics play in athletic potential, why gymnastics is the best base sport for young kids, and the ACL injury connection to the menstrual cycle that most coaches don't know about.
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